Mentoring Youth to Stay Involved in Church for Gold Award Project

For her Gold Award, Emily developed a mentoring program for her church youth group. The goal of her project was to increase the declining numbers of sixth-graders in the classes and enhance their spiritual journey. She recruited high school students as mentors to share in the lesson-planning and create a fun atmosphere for the youth. By encouraging the younger students to stay involved, Emily saw her project succeed when a number of youth she mentored the previous year decided to stay on with the group. “Every time I created a lesson,” said Emily, “I learned something new about myself and how I could improve the lives of the youth.” As a result of her project, she also gained the leadership skills necessary to be more selective when choosing the mentors.

Emily is the daughter of Mark and Mary Beth of Hoover and a junior at Hoover High School.